New Norinco SKS

First off, I'm new here and this is my first post, so I'd like to say hello to everyone. Now...

I walked into a local pawn shop today and saw an absolutely pristine pre-ban Norinco SKS is the rack for $150.00.

It literally looks like it just came off the boat!

This rifle is so pristine that it doesn't hardly even have scratches along the receiver cover that you get from operating the disassembly levers. There are no scratches on the bbl end from extending the bayonet and the cleaning kit/maintainance tool is in the buttstock. Needless to say, I didn't let it sit there. I put a deposit on it and will be picking it up very shortly. I've had a number of SKS rifles in the past and am very familiar with them. I gave it a thorough look-see and while it does have a very slight oder of burt powder, I couldn't see any wear on the follower at all. it appears to be completely unfired.

Normally, I haggle the price down and am good at it, but I was so excited that I just snatched it up fo the asking price. It does pay to wander into pawn shops on occassion I think.

AntiqueDr - believe me, I have no desire to modify this rifle in the least. It is in such perfect condition that, heck, I may never fire it. There are plenty of SKS rifles of all sorts out there that I could shoot. This rifle is a collector or will be some day. That is why I am hoping it is legally pre-ban - so that I can keep the bayonet that is already on it when I bought it. The condition od the rifle makes me think that it must have been someone's closet queen and that the person who owned it before me never did anything of any sort to it, including mounting an illegal bayonet - heck I don't think he ever even fired it. Of course I am trying to verify this, since I do want to comply with th law. I've laready been to Simonov.net , but that has not been much help. According to him, no one really knows, including the BATF.

As I recall, there was a series of serial numbers that the BATF published that identified the pre bans, back when the law was passed. You know what I mean - all rifles of xxx manufacture with serial #s between xxxxxxxx - xxxxxxxxxx are legal. I even remember seening the list somewhere a while back. I went to the BATF web site but a serach for SKS didn't produce much of anything useful. I'm still looking elsewhere.

Welcome to TFF, Crocodile. There is no such list of serial numbers for pre-ban SKS's. The date of import is the important date, not the date of manufacture. And since Chinese SKS manufacture dates back to 1956, the imports are a jumble of all different types of serial numbers and dates. It would be possible to have a pre-ban 1989 model but a post-ban 1956 model. Unless they gave a list of every single serial number that was imported before November 1990, then the list would be worthless. A serial number range wouldn't help at all.

Sounds like you did very well on your purchase. So what do you have? What's the factory code? Pinned or threaded barrel? Stamped or milled trigger group? Blade or spike bayo?

I'm glad to see another person who loves the SKS and appreciates it in its original configuration. I'm an SKS collector myself.

I Haven't picked it up yet, and considering my schedule probably won't until the first week of next month. However, I can tell you that it has a spike bayonet. I didn't have a chance to dis-assemble the rifle so I can't say about how the bbl is mounted. This Norinco SKS is identical to the ones I owned back when Norinco began importing them into the country back in the eighties. I purchased my very first one from Potomac Arms in VA which I strongly suspect may have been an outlet store back then for Interarms - at least they were right next door to one another. Anyway, they had large wooden crates with a gun-rack configuration inside that must have held twenty or more SKS rifles. I bought the others, as well as a Norinco folding stock
AK, from another well known gun dealer in VA. This was all right around the same time - actually in the same year if memory serves. I am, of course, kicking myself constantly for trading them away. I had everything for the SKS' & AK - I mean everything . Oh well. Anyway, this SKS is a perfect example of those that I had purchased back then. Believe me when I say that I am going to research this one as best I can - cause I bought it with the bayonet and I want to keep it in that configuration. I'm, also kicking myself for not having picked up one of the Russian-built models when the were first imported. I've examined some and oh Lawdy, are they nice!I love the SKS - I think that it is an excellent rifle. I now plan on getting one of the current examples with a grenade launcher but I am either going to have the launcher removed or I will have it turned into a muzzel brake. Or maybe I'll get one of the Kalifornia models and not worry about the whole launcher deal. I plan to make it my MBR so I will spend some time configuring it to my specs. In any case, I have seen several examples and I like the fact that it is built so rock-solid. It's unfortunate that there are so many that are in really rough shape. This is not a rifle I would buy sight unseen by mail order, I will be going to gun stores and gun shows to find an example in excellent shape.

Oh yes, I almost forgot - I swear that a few years ago, I saw what claimed to be an official BATF doc - which showed the serial numbers, by Chinese manufacturer for pre-ban SKS rifles. There were not that many manufacturers shown. I remember Norinco and I believe two others. Both of the others were well known to me at the time, but I can't remember them now to save my life. Anyway, I'm not imagining this - there was such a list, though, of course, it could have been a forgery I suppose. I believe it was on the Internet, though I could be mistaken on that.

The type of barrel should be readily visible without any disassembly. You just have to look under the rear sight block. If the barrel has a "collar" where it meets the receiver, it's a threaded barrel. If it just goes straight into the receiver (and has a gap between the barrel and underside of the rear sight block), then it's pinned. Here's a good page that describes it: http://www.simonov.net/uberthread.htm

Again, welcome to the forums. Make sure you come back and post regularly. We could use more SKS discussions around here.

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Hey Smokin Guns,
I've got a couple of questions for you. What kind of scope do you have on your SKS there? How is it mounted? Is it a little shaky or is the mount pretty solid? Lastly, if you're happy with it, where did you get it and how much was it?

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